The Legislature this week confirmed Gov. Ted Kulongoski's five appointees to the state's Public Employees Retirement System board.
The appointments are part of a pension-reform program that sets up a new retirement system for incoming state employees and includes a statewide pension-bond referendum in September.
The new PERS board will now have five members, down from 12. Of the five, three must be experienced in business management, pension management, and investing, and may not be members of the PERS system.
The new members are James Dalton, a vice president for Tektronix; Eva Kripalani, senior vice president at KinderCare Learning Centers; Michael Pittman, senior vice president for PacifiCorp/Scottish Power; Thomas Grimsley, a teacher and union leader at Bethel School District in Eugene, who will represent public employees; and state lottery director Brenda Rocklin, who will represent state and local government employers.
This week the Legislature also approved a measure creating a separate retirement system for newly hired state and local government employees. The Oregon Public Service Retirement Plan will provide a smaller guaranteed pension to those workers, but adds an individual savings account allowing workers to direct their own investments, as with a 401(k) retirement plan.
"It will save billions of dollars over the next few decades," Kulongoski said in a news release.
The state's PERS system is underfunded by $2 billion, a situation the state will try to address on Sept. 16 when voters will be asked to approve a measure allowing for taxable pension obligation bonds to close the deficit.
If that measure does not pass, Oregon could finance the unfunded pension obligation through the sale of certificates of participation at higher cost to the state, said Kate Richardson, chief of staff to Treasurer Randall Edwards.
